1960 Jaguar Custom$179,500

• MILEAGE1332
• DESCRIPTION1960 Omega-Jaguar Special s/n SYCC34, Engine no. D4863-8 Gunmetal with Black Interior During the 1950s and 1960s racing specials were a common sight at race meetings in Europe and the US where they competed head to head with considerable success against the very best that the mainstream auto manufactures could offer. Often hybrids by design, these specials were built from combinations of the preferred equipment available to the motoring public from their era, and are generally one-of-a-kind, often amounting a colorful history competing against household names from the motorsport industry. This particular car is a Jaguar-power special built during the winter of 1959 by John Wilks and first campaigned in 1960 at the Stapleford, Essex hill climb by Mr. Wilks himself. It is a tubular space-framed in construction, with an all aluminum body. During most of its career it has been motivated by a Jaguar 3.4L powerplant with 3 SUs, a Jaguar (Moss) gearbox, early Austin Healey rear axle on uniball jointed trailing arms and 'A' Bracket, double-wishbone front suspension, front disc brakes, rear drum brakes, rack & pinion steering, and 16 inch wire wheels. For the period of its construction, it was a decidedly modern equipment package. It was a sports racing car in nature, and road registered on 6 RPE plates. John Wilks was a 750 formula racer of some repute, but in 1959 he built this more potent special. Initially it had a 2.6 litre MG engine and gearbox, but after a few hillclimbs Wilks found he needed more power. "I grafted on a Zoller supercharger (off Goldie Gardner's 1.5 litre record-breaker)", said Wilks, "but at Brighton speed trials the blower drive disintegrated." During the winter of 1961/62, the 3442cc Jaguar engine from a crashed MkVII was fitted. At one time it had independent rear suspension, using the driveshaft as the top transverse link, and in that form it was used for one "very frightening" race at Brands Hatch. An Austin Atlantic axle was later used and the car was campaigned in all forms of competition, from Formule Libre races at Silverstone and Snetterton to the Brighton Speed Trials and hillclimbs at Prescott.